<p>I was accepted early, designated as an Echols Scholar and just toured the campus a week ago, which is all to say that I am in love with UVa. The lack of core requirements with Echols, the location and the academic/social environment all seem perfect for me but unfortunately my one problem with the school is pretty major... I am trying to double major in film and sociology (or potentially journalism) and I think that the media studies department is young, not particularly distinguished and may not justify me paying OOS tuition for when it's such an important factor. Anyone know anything about the media studies department, good or bad?</p>
<p>Media Studies is a fantastic department here. What gave you the impression that it wasn’t distinguished? Siva Vaidhyanathan, the department chair, is a passionate advocate for his students. You might want to check him out. :)</p>
<p>What do you want to accomplish with your media studies degree? That may make a difference in deciding whether UVa is the right school for you.</p>
<p>There is no “journalism” to speak of in the program.</p>
<p>pm’d you (10 chrs)</p>
<p>I know its late in the game, but did you look at UNC Chapel hill…fantastic journalism program and if you look in the english dept, there is also a concentration in writing for screen and stage…Kenyon also has these programs…</p>
<p>At this point you go, and assemble a plan B for next year if truly it doesnt pan out…</p>
<p>Thanks everybody
@Dean J, I didn’t mean to imply it wasn’t a good department, just that everyone I’ve talked to has said it’s small and not one of well-known departments at the school, which isn’t a problem for me if it has a great diversity and depth of courses and interesting programs/opportunities. I plan on reaching out to the department and trying to find a current concentrator to ask more about it. </p>
<p>@AVA55, At this point, I’m really uncertain about my post-under grad plan, but hopefully something with either screenwriting or documentary film making which I realize isn’t particularly aligned to UVa’s non-production oriented courses but I anticipate going to grad school for film if it goes well with undergrad. </p>
<p>@elle232, I didn’t apply to UNC for other reasons, mostly related to location but I do wish UVa had a screenwriting program like UNC does, it sounds incredible. I’m waiting to hear from some other places in March so I guess I’ll see what happens with that before I make a plan B, but I didn’t realize that about Kenyon, thanks for the advice.</p>
<p>If you are admitted, talk to Siva at Days on the Lawn. He has some interesting things to say about hands on work in the field. You could try to send him an email or tweet. :)</p>
<p>Good luck with your decisions!</p>
<p>maryland – UVa is a wonderful experience. My son wouldn’t trade his four years at UVa for anything. He ended up taking Media Studies as a minor rather than a major. The major focus of the dept. is more along the lines of “cultural anthropology of mass media.” He is not at all interested in that, but he wants to end up in broadcasting so he went for the minor to have media somewhere on his academic resume 
Grad school is in his plans, maybe even UMD . . . .</p>
<p>If you peruse the Media Studies course listing, you will see some scriptwriting and documentary courses listed. In the past 4 years, I am not sure if scriptwriting has ever been offered. (Not unique to Media Studies. My son has learned that many courses at UVa are “on the books,” but not offered anymore.) The documentary courses have been offered fairly regularly. They are small, but as a MS major you should be able to get into the classes. Also look at offerings in the Drama department. They offer writing classes, too, including scriptwriting. Another avenue for relevant course work is the English department which is highly regarded. </p>
<p>I would recommend contacting Bruce Williams, one of the full professors in the MS dept. for more information. Bruce is down to earth and has been very student friendly, from what I have heard from my student. Honestly, the tenured and tenure-track MS faculty are purely academicians; not much “hands on” experience among the lot of them, so I would take Siva’s views on the worth of that with a whole cellar full of salt . . . . That said, there are many avenues for gaining production experience on Grounds. From working on the offerings on the jumbo-trons at the athletic venues to work with other students interested in filmmaking, you can get relevant experience while a student at UVa. See, e.g., <a href=“https://www.facebook.com/UVaFilmmakersSociety[/url]”>https://www.facebook.com/UVaFilmmakersSociety</a>. I can’t find the info right now, but I believe there was a UVa alum who recently produced a documentary on child labor in India that won acclaim.</p>
<p>UVa sponsors the Virginia Film Festival in November. The former head of the festival, Jody Kielbasa, whom has filmmaking credentials himself, was recently appointed Vice-provost for the arts at UVa, so he may also be a resource to tap as you consider UVa.</p>
<p>Hope this helps. Best of luck to you in your decision. As you consider options, you might want to research MFA programs in filmmaking. They can be quite lengthy and quite expensive.</p>
<p>
This is basically what Siva said about hands-on work the last time I heard him talk. It’s been a few years, but my sense is that tools evolve so quickly that it makes sense to learn them in the field.</p>
<p>News of Jody’s appointment didn’t reach me in my application reading cave. That’s fantastic!</p>
<p>Thanks AVA55! that’s a shame about the courses being just on the books, but the Festival and the film society sound great and I’ll be sure to look into relevant classes in the drama and english departments.</p>